Friday Reads | Pretty Monsters

This Friday I’ve read Pretty Monsters (Josh of the Damned #1) by Andrea Speed. I was super tired and was looking for a short read before I fell asleep yesterday and went on the Amazon short reads lists and there it was.

I’ve read one or two stories by Andrea Speed before and I’ve been meaning to read the Infected series for ages but I still haven’t.

Pretty Monsters is a short, funny tale about Josh who works the night shift at the Quick-Mart. In just a few sentences Speed paints a world I wouldn’t mind being a part of. There are lizard guys, zombies, and pretty monsters. And I had a sneak peek at Peek-a-Boo (Josh of the Damned #2) and apparently there’s a yeti LOL.

Give it a try!

Update: I can’t find either Pretty Monsters or Peek-a-Boo, I don’t know if they’re only taken down temporary but we can always hope that’s the case.


Book Cover Pretty Monsters by Andrea SpeedJosh knew the night shift at the Quik-Mart would be full of freaks and geeks—and that was before the hell portal opened in the parking lot. Still, he likes to think he can roll with things. Sure, the zombies make a mess sometimes, but at least they never reach for anything more threatening than frozen burritos.

Besides, it’s not all lizard-monsters and the walking dead. There’s also the mysterious hottie with the sly red lips and a taste for sweets.

Josh has had the hots for Hot Guy since the moment he laid eyes on him, and it seems Hot Guy might be sweet on Josh too. Now if only Josh could figure out whether that’s a good thing, a bad thing, or something in between. After all, with a hell vortex just a stone’s throw away, Josh has learned to take nothing at face value—even if it’s a very, very pretty face.

For the Love of Chequered Shirts

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I don’t see myself as a romance author. I’m fully aware of writing romance. It isn’t that I sit down and write about to two people falling in love thinking I’m writing a thriller – I’m not that delusional…yet. But, if someone asks me what I write I usually say that I’m mostly writing speculative fiction, horror and weird and that my format of choice is flash fiction.

NortownTherefore it’s really funny that my most read stories are about lumberjacks who live in a fictive village in the middle of nowhere. Nortown is where they fall in love, most often with other lumberjacks.  And don’t get me wrong, I love writing these stories, but I do so with a giggle.

It all started during NaNoWriMo 2015. I wrote Once in a Snowstorm during the first half of November, cramming as many tropes and cliches into one single story as I possibly could. Debbie McGowan, my editor/publisher, then waved her magic wand, and in December Aiden including Tristan saw the light of day.

I never meant for it to be more than that. I didn’t have any plans of making it into series, but something about Nortown stayed with me, and not long after I started writing Once in a Forest.

Since Once in a Snowstorm, I’ve concentrated on a few tropes for each story instead of trying to get as many as possible in there, at least if we’re talking theme tropes. All those other about looks, top vs bottom etc are still there. But what we have so far is:

  • Once in a Snowstorm: A mishmash of every possible trope ever found, but with stranded (trapped in a snowstorm) being the main trope.
  • Once in a Forest: Out for You, Bottom for You.
  • Once in May: The Healing Power of Sperm.

And between them, we have Aiden and Tristan shorts, and they’re just about one thing really. The Empty Egg and Happy Endings are more about moans and groans than plot.

Tomorrow, it’s time for two new men to see the world. Chris, we’ve already met in the previous books, he is the guy standing by the checkout counter in Nortown’s only shop and then we have Gabe who was born simply to become the main character in Once in the Underworld. Gabe is in witness protection and is being hidden in Nortown. So to add tropes to the list:

  • Once in the Underworld: Fish out of Water, Beautiful all along (or ugly duckling or whatever you want to call it)

And of course, there’s a little short Aiden and Tristan following. Just Words is smut in the woods where only the birds will hear you moan LOL.

Both Once in the Underworld and Just words are up for pre-order, though tomorrow they’ll be up for real. You find them here:

34096130
books2read.com/Underworld

34096139
books2read.com/JustWords

 


* By clicking the Books2Read link you’ll be taken to an external page. Links to Smashwords, Kobo U.S and Amazon contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

 

Friday Reads | The Vampire’s Werewolf Bodyguard

I’m continuing my smutty paranormal romance phase with The Vampire’s Werewolf Bodyguard by Liv Rider. I’ll be completely honest and admit to almost dismissing this story due to the title, but then I read a review that said something along those lines and how glad the reader was that they hadn’t skipped it so I thought I’d give it a try. I’m not sorry!

It all starts with the expected vampire hates werewolves and werewolves hate vampires thing, and we have the fine-limbed bratty bottom and the burly top – not so clearly stated, but almost.

If you like your paranormal tropes this is a book for you. It has all you can wish for plus a good mystery plot. Without meaning to sound like a bitch I’m surprised by how much like it. I haven’t read anything by Liv Rider before but I’ll definitely keep an eye on her from now on. A quick glance told me she has two more stories out.

Check it out!

books2read.com/TheVampiresWerewolf *


Book Cover The Vampire's Werewolf Bodyguard by Liv RiderWhat happens when an out-of-control werewolf is hired to guard his immortal enemy?

Simon Caley barely survived an assassin’s strike. The reclusive vampire trusts no one, but he’s still in danger, and the attack left him too weak to defend himself. He needs protection while he hunts for the mastermind behind the attack.

Cody Weston’s werewolf instincts make him a good bodyguard—but only if he can control his wolf. After an accidental shift on the job, he’s on probation, until his boss calls about a very unusual client.

Instincts and tempers flare when they meet, along with something unexpected: desire. Simon’s not just Cody’s fated enemy, he’s his fated mate too. Can the vampire and his werewolf bodyguard work past their differences and save each other, or will Cody lose control—and hurt the man he’s sworn to protect?

The Vampire’s Werewolf Bodyguard is a standalone M/M paranormal vampire/wolf shifter romance with no cliffhangers.


* By clicking the Books2Read link you’ll be taken to an external page. Links to Smashwords, Kobo U.S and Amazon contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.